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March 7, 2010

Closing: Cooks Boulevard

A reader tipped us to the sad news that after 5 years in Noe, Cooks Boulevard (1309 Castro @ 24th St) is closing. Owner Malcolm Haar says the two-level retail space is too big (and presumably expensive) and the "current situation is not sustainable." Depending on how quickly he can find someone to assume the lease, he may or may not reopen in another location.

A final close date has not been set, but the selection is already looking thin and everything in the store is 20-40% off. If you're planning to stop in, do it soon--and check the Cooks Boulevard blog for updates on a final closing date.

Unrelated (but unfortunate), the front window to the store is also broken.

13
comments:

Sad another store is closing. I really wanted to support local businesses and went there to buy a saucepan under $75 and cookie sheet. Unfortunately, they had neither. I went to Cliffs Variety instead.

Yes, Rocky's Dad and Anon. This is a real shame; but does Noe really need this kind of specialty store? I guess not.

I went in there a number of times hoping to find specific items but either couldn't find what I was looking for, or was way put-off by the costs. If I want Williams Sonoma costs I'll go to Williams Sonoma! Otherwise Bed/Bath/Beyond or even Cole Hardware works just fine.

There's clearly demand in Noe for a store like this, but this was always a particularly poorly curated store. For example, they rarely had the Cooks Illustrated top-rated equipment. Lots of obvious things missing. If you want to charge retail prices, you have to impress by having the perfect thing.

I loved the idea of a great cooking store in Noe Valley. I think the owner did a great deal of community building by being a pickup site for Community Supported Agriculture and holding classes and SF Food Bank fund raisers.I think the timing was off by a few years. The economy tanked. I suspect that credit to buy new stock dried up. That was not his fault. I will miss Cooks Boulevard. Very much. Thank you for all you did and tried to do.

I think they made a great effort with this shop. The space was much too big for them. A more petit store crammed to the rafters with great items would have been perfect. I do agree that I love to support local businesses but I also had to watch the wallet and wsa able to get much of what Cooks Blvd carried at other locations in the city for less money. I wish them the best of luck with other adventures. Please no more nail salons...please...I beg!